Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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ANTISKlD DEVICE FOR INLINE SKATES
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the invention
This invention relates to inline skates in general but more specifically to a
removable
antiskid device that covers the wheels of inline skates .
Description of the prior art
Ever since intine skates became popular and, to a certain extent, from the
time of the
older roller skates, the problem of using those same skates off track has been
a
problem. As is well known, afficionados of inline skating use them to go to
work,
some messenger services even use inline skaters to deliver parcels. When comes
time to climb stairs or move around inside office buildings, use public
transit or roll
down steep hills, rolling wheels can be a hazard to both the users and
surrounding
people. Several inventors have developped devices to cover the wheels of all
types of
roper skates. As usual, some inventors like things heavy, bulky and
impractical with
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complex attachment means white others are a bit more practical and provide for
rather uncumbersome and easy to use skate wheel covers.
taespite the numerous variations found in the prior art, the problem remains
that users
with long feet require long skate wheel covers which are cumbersome to carry
when
not in use. Therefore, there is a need for an improved skate wheel cover
device.
SUMMARY OF THE fNVf:NTION
The present invention provides an antiskid device which covers inline skate
wheels
and which can be folded onto itself so as to become half as long. In this way,
it is
much easier to conceal inside a pocket or a pouch.
It is also an object of this Invention to provide for an antiskid device for
inline skates
whidt is easy to install and uninstall.
It is another object of this invention to provide for an antiskid device for
inline skates
which is held more securediy onto the wheels.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide for an antiskid device
for inline
skates which can adapt to various wheel diameters as well as wheel spacing.
The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of this invention
will
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become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of a
preferred
embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the preferred
embodiment of the Invention is shown and described, by way of examples. As
will be
realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its
several
details are capable of mod~cations in various obvious respects, all without
departing
from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be
regarded as
111ustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREPERED EMBODIMENT
Fig.1 isometric view of the antiskid device deployed and in context.
Fig. tab isometric views, front and back respectively, of folded antiskid
device.
Fig. 3abcd bottom, side, front, and back views respectively of the folded
antiskid
device.
Fig. 4ab bottom and side deployed views of the antiskid device.
Fig. 5ab side views showing variable wheel diameter adaptability and variable
wheel
distance adaptability, respectively, of the antiskid device.
Fig. Gab side and front views respectively of the antiskid device in context.
Fig. lab front and back views respectively of the deployed antiskid device.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
An inline skate (10) has an antiskid device (12) installed over its wheels
(14) as per
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Fig. 1 . The antiskld device (12) consists of a plurality of wheel receptacles
(16) as
per Figs 4-5. The receptacles (18) only cover the bottom half of the wheels
(14) and
consist of a high friction (hence anti skid) means (18) joined to and covering
the
exterior surface of a pliable and resitlient shell {20).Side panels (22),
which are a part
of the receptacles and form an extension therefrom, are configured and sized
to
fractionally engage the side of the wheels (14) up to or near the axle {24) so
as to
securedly engage the antiskid device (12) to the wheels (14) and also give a
user a
strong grasp io facilitate insertion and removal onto the wheels (14).
Each wheel receptacle (18) is linked to the next by way of a hinge (26). The
hinge
(26) has two main functions: The first being to fold each grouping of
receptacles (1B)
by rotating them together around the hinge (26) and mating them in clamshell
fashion
to procure a more compact size as per Flgs 2-3 so as to facilitate carrying of
the
antiskid device (12) when not in use. The second function of the hinge (26) is
to vary
the distance between each receptacle (16) so as to accomodate to various
spaangs
between wheels (14) such as in Ftg. 5a.
Also, the pliable and resillient shell (20) allows for different wheel
diameters to fit as
seen in Fig. 3a . Indeed, there are different wheel (14) diameters for
different skate
{10) models and sometimes, even on a sirEgle pair of skafies (10).
Inline skates {10) don't always have 4 wtreels, as per the illustrations. in
fact, the
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number of wheels can vary from 3 to 6. A 4 receptacle antiskid device (12)
could fit a
3 wheel skate (10) by either snipping off one receptable (16) or leaving it
there if it
doesn't bother. A 8 receptacle {i6) antiskid device (12) could, likewise,
serve for a 5
or 6 wheel (14) inline skate (10).
To keep the antiskid device (12) in a closed ec clamshell » configuration, a
small clip
(28) clips into a recess (30). Both the ciip {28) and the recess (30) are
situated at
opposite extremities of the antiskid device (12) as per Figs 6-7 .
s
